Among the many burdens of daily living is a never-ending quest to fight germs and disease wherever they might be. Examples of that struggle are manifested in numerous products, such as disinfectant wipes, sprays, soaps and other products. The use of these types of sanitizing products is very widespread. From traditional bathroom environment uses, such as toilet seat covers, they have migrated to products suited for gymnasiums, classrooms, shopping malls and even supermarket shopping carts. Basically, wherever there is activity that involves any form of touching, there is oftentimes some cleaning product nearby which is designed to prevent the spread of germs and disease. This need for germ control is further pronounced in the modern world as a consequence of the increased threat of mass bio-terrorism, which often relies on quick-acting germ spreading mechanisms in order to propagate harmful agents.
Presently, there is a glaring gap in the sphere of germ-protective “coverage”, namely, computer keyboards and other computer peripheral devices and add-ons. By design, the keyboard, mouse and similar interactive computer peripheral devices are meant to be touched as the primary means of communication between the user and a computer. Furthermore, these devices are often shared by many users, especially in public or office environments. In addition, since the keyboard (and mouse) is used at all times to work on the computer, even a single user of an unshared keyboard (and mouse) is highly exposed to contamination as the keyboard serves as an “accumulator” where bacteria, viruses and/or other germs or disease-causing agents become deposited over time and use.
Numerous studies have been performed that confirm the fact that keyboards are one of the leading mechanisms for spreading diseases, which may eventually lead to food poisoning and other illnesses. In these studies, keyboards were found, on average, to be five times more dirtier than toilet seats. Unfortunately, there is virtually nothing on the market that prevents this universally used computer peripheral component to be protected from one use to the next. It is this deficiency in preventing the spread of germs on keyboards and other computer peripheral devices that the present invention seeks to efficiently and effectively address.
Some products on the market today attempt to provide a solution to this universal problem. However, they do so in a very primitive way, that is, by largely covering the keyboard with a disposable plastic overlay. This approach is quite limited in utility in that it suppresses and in some instances eliminates the required need for tactile feel for the keyboard keys, and it also prevents the user from using touch-sensitive devices, such as touch-pads, trackballs, and the like, that are often built-in into modern keyboard devices. By placing anything on top of the keyboard the entire functionality of the keyboard surface is altered and full use is compromised to some extent. Moreover, the disposable overlay approach requires constant replenishment, i.e., on-going costs, which translates into endless purchasing of product as well as personnel to replace it. And, finally, disposable overlays do very little to promote a clean environment as they contribute to overall trash accumulation, and are often not readily bio-degradable. In addition, none of the existing disposable overlay solutions address any add-on computer peripheral devices, such as the mouse, mouse pad, fingerprint scanner, flash memory, and so on, which also must be cleaned as they are also potential sources of germs and disease. In addition to the above deficiencies, it is virtually impossible to control the proper use as well as frequency of use of these overlays, which makes it extremely difficult to have any confidence in their effectiveness.
Examples of keyboard overlays may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,454,075; 4,922,980 and 5,944,432.
Ultraviolet radiation and ozone gas generation have also been proposed as alternative solutions to the problem of computer peripheral device contamination. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,278,122; 6,458,331; 6,720,950 and 7,372,044 and Published U.S. Patent Application Nos. 2008/0067417; 2009/0123331 and 2009/0218512 disclose the use of UV and/or ozone generation chambers which are adapted to enclose computer keyboards, mice and similar computer peripheral devices during a sanitation procedure. While they may be effective for their intended purposes, the very existence of bulky chambers at the computer workstation area, which may be quite limited in available space, renders these devices less than desirable as a practical matter.
Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0028553 teaches the use of pulse radiation as a means of sterilizing objects such as pieces of mail and keyboards. However, the system employed in that patent application requires the use of two cooperating conveyors over which the objects to be sanitized are conveyed. Obviously, such a system would be very impractical, and expensive, if installed at a typical computer workstation area.
Finally, although not described as being useful for disinfecting computer peripheral devices, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,920,075 and 6,953,940, as well as Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0260601, disclose the use of hand-held UV-generating wands for sanitizing objects and room surfaces. A fundamental disadvantage of such hand-held devices is that they require human beings to hold and move the wands steadily over desired surfaces for predetermined periods of time in order to achieve sterilization. As will be appreciated, any human involvement in the wand-handling procedure reduces the likelihood of effective disinfection, especially if the wand is being handled by inexperienced, unskilled, or impatient personnel. Moreover, the wand itself acts as a medium for the accumulation and dissemination of germs, particularly if the same wand is used by multiple people such as might occur in connection with public use computers, for example.
Furthermore, none of the aforementioned systems and methods provide a reliable way of monitoring and/or guaranteeing that the sterilization process has occurred, that it has been preformed correctly, or when and how it was done.
An advantage exists, therefore, for an enclosureless system which utilizes UV radiation as the disinfecting medium for sterilizing computer peripheral devices, but which preferably avoids handling of the sterilization device by a human being.
A further advantage exists for a UV radiation disinfection system which monitors the computer peripheral device sterilization process and guarantees that the process has occurred correctly prior to use of a host computer.